Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Research facility in Philadelphia, US

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania in Center City Philadelphia

Formation| 1824
Type| Historical Society
Headquarters| 1300 Locust Street,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. 19107

President and CEO

| David R. Brigham[1]
Website| hsp.org
A historical marker for the Historical Society at 1300 Locust Street in Center City Philadelphia

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a historic research facility headquartered on Locust Street in Center City Philadelphia. It is a repository for millions of historic items ranging across rare books, scholarly monographs, family chronicles, maps, press reports and varied ephemera, reaching back almost 300 years, and accessible on the society's website.

## Mission[edit]

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a historical society founded in 1824. Membership was regulated by the statutory of the association. Article IV of the statute states that, "the members of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania shall be deemed qualified voters at the meetings and elections, who have subscribed to the Constitution, and who have paid all their dues to the Society".[2][3]

The society houses some 600,000 printed items and over 19 million manuscript and graphic items. The Society maintains printed collections on Pennsylvania and regional history and manuscript collections covering 17th, 18th, and 19th century history. The holdings of the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies were added in 2002 and those of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania in 2006.

The society has recently undertaken efforts to appeal to a younger demographic through its Young Friends programming. [4]

## Building[edit]

The society's building on the southwest corner of 13th and Locust Streets was formerly the site of the Patterson Mansion. General Robert Patterson, a general of the Mexican-American and Civil Wars, purchased the mansion from John Hare Powel, the founder of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Society. After Patterson's death in 1881, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania purchased the mansion as its permanent home. The mansion was demolished between 1905 and 1909 and the main block of a new fireproof building, again designed by Addison Hutton, was constructed on site. The totally fireproof building was dedicated in 1910. The building is listed on Philadelphia's Register of Historical Places.

## Collections[edit]

The Society's collections include a number of different types of materials:

* Books and pamphlets: ranging from limited-edition and out-of-print volumes to current reference works and scholarly monographs. The Society's pre-1820 imprints are housed next door at The Library Company of Philadelphia.
* Serials and newspapers: spanning almost 300 years, in either original format or microfilm copy.
* Manuscripts: materials such as letters, diaries, account books, deeds, minutes, and scrapbooks. Manuscript collections include personal papers created by individuals and families, and records created by organizations and businesses.
* Graphics: prints, watercolors, and other works of art on paper, architectural drawings, photographs, broadsides, maps, posters, and other images.
* Printed ephemera: such as event programs, brochures, invitations, advertisements, trade cards, certificates, and menus.
* Microforms: microfilm and microfiche reproductions of newspapers, genealogical resources, manuscript collections, and other materials.

To help researchers find the materials they need, all of these resources are available through the "Online Catalogs and Research Tools" of the society's web site.[5]

## Publications[edit]

The society publishes Sidelights, a semi-annual newsletter, Pennsylvania Legacies, a semi-annual illustrated history magazine, and the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, a quarterly scholarly journal published since 1877.

## In popular culture[edit]

* In May 2016, a play by Ain Gordon, 217 Boxes of Dr. Henry Anonymous, based on Gordon's research as an embedded artist at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, where John E. Fryer's papers are archived, premiered at the Painted Bride Art Center in Philadelphia. The play explores Fryer and the circumstances around his disguised appearance at the American Psychiatric Association's 1972 convention in Dallas, where he participated as "Dr. Henry Anonymous" in a debate called "Psychiatry: Friend or Foe to the Homosexual?" in a successful attempt to have homosexuality removed from the APA's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, where it was listed as a mental disease. The play uses monologues by three people who knew him: Alfred A. Gross, the New York City-based head of the George W. Henry Foundation, a social charity which helped homosexual men who encountered legal difficulties; Katherine Luder, Fryer's long-time secretary; and Fryer's father, Ercel Ray Fryer.[6][7][8][9]

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Staff – Historical Society of Pennsylvania". hsp.org.
2. ^ Garrard, Lewis Hector (1856). The Historical Society of Pennsylvania. p. 84. Retrieved Sep 16, 2018.
3. ^ The Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania. Historical Society. 15 May 2018. p. 17\. ISBN 978-0-365-69159-4. Retrieved Sep 16, 2018.
4. ^ "Young Friends – Historical Society of Pennsylvania". hsp.org. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
5. ^ "Online Catalogs & Research Tools : Historical Society of Pennsylvania". Retrieved 2019-01-30.
6. ^ "An Artist Embedded" Historical Society of Pennsylvania website
7. ^ Staff (April 25, 2016) "Ain Gordon World Premiere Set for Painted Bride Arts Center" Broadway World Philadelphia
8. ^ Derakhshani, Tirdad (May 5, 2016) "'217 Boxes' at the Painted Bride: A courageous mystery man who changed history" Philadelphia Inquirer
9. ^ Crimmins, Peter (May 4, 2016) "Raising the curtain on life of Dr. Anonymous, Philly gay rights pioneer" Archived 2016-05-11 at the Wayback Machine Newsworks

## External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Wikisource has the text of a 1905 New International Encyclopedia article about "Historical Society of Pennsylvania".

* Official website
* "Collections". Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
* Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. PA-1942, "Historical Society of Pennsylvania (mantlepiece), 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA", 1 photo, 1 photo caption page

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Historical societies of the U.S. states

Northeast|

| New England|

* Connecticut Museum of Culture and History
* Maine Historical Society
* Massachusetts Historical Society
* New Hampshire Historical Society
* Rhode Island Historical Society
* Vermont Historical Society

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Mid-Atlantic|

* Delaware Historical Society
* Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
* Maryland Historical Society
* New Jersey Historical Society
* New-York Historical Society
* Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Midwest|

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* Illinois State Historical Society
* Indiana Historical Society
* Historical Society of Michigan
* Ohio History Connection
* Wisconsin Historical Society

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West North Central|

* State Historical Society of Iowa
* Kansas Historical Society
* Minnesota Historical Society
* State Historical Society of Missouri
* Missouri Historical Society
* Nebraska State Historical Society
* State Historical Society of North Dakota
* South Dakota State Historical Society

South|

| South Atlantic|

* Florida Historical Society
* Georgia Historical Society
* North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office
* South Carolina Historical Society
* Virginia Historical Society
* West Virginia Division of Culture and History

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East South Central|

* Alabama Historical Commission
* Kentucky Historical Society
* Mississippi Historical Society
* Tennessee Historical Commission

West South Central|

* Arkansas Historical Association
* Louisiana Historical Society
* Oklahoma Historical Society
* Texas State Historical Association

West|

| Mountain|

* Arizona Historical Society
* History Colorado
* Idaho State Historical Society
* Montana Historical Society
* Nevada Historical Society
* Historical Society of New Mexico
* Utah State Historical Society
* Wyoming State Historical Society

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Pacific|

* Alaska Historical Society
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* Oregon Historical Society
* Washington State Historical Society

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Mid-Atlantic U.S. historical societies

Delaware|

| Wilmington|

* Business History Conference
* Delaware Historical Society

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Maryland|

| Baltimore|

* Baltimore Heritage
* Community College Humanities Association
* Maryland Historical Society
* Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing

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Others|

* Association of Black Women Historians (Silver Spring)
* Berkshire Conference of Women Historians (Clarksville)
* C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience (Chestertown)
* Early American Industries Association (Hebron)
* Frederick and Pennsylvania Line Railroad Museum (Walkersville)
* Historical Society of Baltimore County (Cockeysville)
* National History Day (College Park)

New Jersey|

| Boonton|

* Boonton Historical Society and Museum
* United Railroad Historical Society of New Jersey

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Trenton|

* New Jersey Historic Trust
* New Jersey Historical Commission

Others|

* Hunterdon County Historical Society (Flemington)
* Monmouth County Historical Association (Freehold)
* Montclair Historical Society (Montclair)
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* The Historical Society of the Somerset Hills (Basking Ridge)
* Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society (Vineland)

New York|

| Albany|

* Academy of Certified Archivists
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* Preservation League of New York State

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New York City|

| The Bronx|

* The Bronx County Historical Society

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Brooklyn|

* Brooklyn Historical Society

Manhattan|

* American Irish Historical Society
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* Society of American Historians
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Queens|

* Greater Astoria Historical Society
* Queens Historical Society

Staten Island|

* Staten Island Historical Society

Others|

* Adirondack Architectural Heritage (Keeseville)
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* Thomas Paine National Historical Association (New Rochelle)
* Ulster & Delaware Railroad Historical Society (Roxbury)
* Yates County Genealogical and Historical Society (Penn Yan)

Pennsylvania|

| Philadelphia|

* German Society of Pennsylvania
* Historical Society of the Episcopal Church
* Historical Society of Frankford
* Historical Society of Pennsylvania
* Pennsylvania German Society
* Presbyterian Historical Society
* Society for Classical Studies
* Society for Historians of the Early American Republic

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Pittsburgh|

* Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania
* Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation

Waynesboro|

* Antietam Historical Association
* Waynesboro Historical Society

Others|

* Bellefonte Historical Railroad Society (Bellefonte)
* Carbondale Historical Society and Museum (Carbondale)
* Chester County History Center (West Chester)
* Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association (Gettysburg)
* Historical Society of Berks County (Reading)
* Johnny Reb Gaming Society (York)
* Lehigh County Historical Society (Allentown)
* Luzerne County Historical Society (Wilkes-Barre)
* Moravian Historical Society (Nazareth)
* Peace History Society (Gwynedd Valley)
* Pennsylvania Historical Association (Mansfield)
* Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (Harrisburg)
* Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society
* Rough and Tumble Engineers Historical Association (Kinzers)
* Washington County History & Landmarks Foundation (Washington)

Washington, D.C.|

| Northeast|

* Florida House on Capitol Hill
* Supreme Court Historical Society
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Northwest|

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* Naval Historical Foundation
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